Mariana Gheorghe, CEO of OMV Petrom, was elected President of the Foreign Investors Council for a one-year term
Mariana Gheorghe, CEO of OMV Petrom, was elected President of the Foreign Investors Council for a one-year term. She took over the job from Shachar Shaine, the head of United Romanian Breweries Bereprod.
After four years and a half of operation in the card industry, CEC Bank has passed the one million card mark, and over 1815,911 cards are in circulation, of which 30% feature a microprocessor. For the time being, CEC Bank offers cash withdrawal services in its own network of 880 ATMs and over 1,200 EPOS devices. CEC Bank reported a pre-tax profit of RON 14.9 million (EUR 3.6 million) while the bank's capital ratio is at 16.89%. (Romanian source)
Raiffeisen Bank to pay the tax on revenues from interest on behalf of its clients
Raiffeisen Bank will pay the tax on revenues from interest on behalf of its clients for deposits which mature in July. The bank stated that there are more than 90,000 clients in this situation. The Ministry of Finance had discussed the issue with the bank's representatives and agreed to tax only the interest rate calculated after July 1, the day the tax had come into force. (Romanian source)
Interest-free installment payment system can be a solution to boost sales
Interest-free installment payment system can be a solution to boost sales in a time when consumers are tightening their purse strings. The advantage of making acquisitions in interest-free installments system is outweighed by the high interests charged for the amounts out of this facility. Cardholders at Raiffeisen Bank, Credit Europe or Garanti have to pay interests of up to 28% per year, for amounts outside the installment program and which are not repaid in the award period. The costs charged by the three banks are higher than at rival banks that don't offer this interest-free installment facilities. BCR, ING or CEC Bank charge interests of up to 16-17% per year. (Romanian Source)
Piraeus Bank Romania will replace magnetic strip cards with chip cards
Piraeus Bank Romania will replace magnetic strips with chips for all the bank's cards. The process will be simple for clients, who will only have to pick up the new debit or credit card from the bank after being contacted by telephone by the bank. The bank will replace over 100,000 debit and credit cards by the end of this year. (Romanian Source)
Chairman of Banca Transilvania board, Horia Ciorcila together with three other shareholders of the bank were arraigned on Monday for insider trading charges and money laundering. Ciorcila is accused for trading based on privileged information, being aware of Bank of Cyprus' intention to acquire a significant stake in Banca Transilvania. The former vice president of the board of Banca Transilvania, Claudiu Silaghi and Georgios Christofourou, managing director of Bank of Cyprus also face charges. Adrian Vasilescu, councilor to NBR governor, said that the persons accused in this case are only shareholders of the bank, without having any executive role, which means the bank's activity will not be affected. (Romanian Source)
(FINANCIARUL 11 Catalin CIOCAN Catalin Ciocan) --- Read article here
ProCredit Bank helps clients access farming loans
ProCredit Bank wants to helps clients access farming loans by waving the application analysis and issue fee for every credit application filed between July 12 and October 31 of this year. The farming loans are meant to be used to purchase new or used machinery, acquire land or livestock and build stables or warehouses. The bank is also offering products for co-financing the investment projects which qualify for European funding. (Romanian source)
CEZ will suspend its investment in the Electrocentrale Galati project, according to a press release issued by the company. The Czech group decided not to go ahead with the project, after two years of discussions and analyses. The 400 MW power plant was supposed to be built on the site of the existing CET Galati, an area owned by ArcelorMittal. The group decided to focus its financial resources on the third and fourth reactors of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant. CEZ Group is also involved in the construction of the biggest wind power park on dry land in Europe. (Romanian source)
Romanians bought food items 0.06% cheaper in June compared to May, but overall consumer prices increased by 0.16% last month, annual inflation rising to 4.38%, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. Food prices, dropped by 0.1% on a monthly basis, due to a favorable seasonal effect and contraction of household demand, said Eugen Sinea, analyst at BCR. The senior economist of ING Bank Romania, Nicolaie Chidesciuc said he expects the inflation rate to jump to 7.3% in July, which means a monthly inflation rate of 2.8%, and reach the maximum 8% in August and September, and go down to 7% afterwards. The senior economist of UniCredit Tiriac Bank, Rozalia Pal, anticipates an annual inflation rate of 7.7% for the end of the year. NBR governor, Mugur Isarescu said recently inflation rate will stand at 8%. NBR's inflation target for this year is 3.5% with -/+1 tolerance band. (Romanian source)
E-commerce industry increased by 60% in the first quarter this year
In the first half this year, Romanians made more than one million transactions online, paid with a banking card, two-fold more than the same period of last year, according to data provided by Romcard. The value of purchased goods reached EUR 68.5 million, up 60% from the first half of last year. " Travel, telecom, and utilities payment remain key areas for the online commerce with banking card we still expect positive performance in services, entertainment, and even after the emergence of new players, from underdeveloped industries in terms of this payment means '', said Laurentiu Ghenciu, sales director at GECAD ePayment. (Romanian source)
UniCredit proposes private financial rescue fund for banks
A round of European banks are talking on the creation of a financial rescue fund of EUR 20 billion (USD 25.3 billion) aimed at rescuing troubled banks, said Unicredit's head, Alessandro Profumo. He proposed the fund to be created from voluntary contributions from large European banks with cross-border operations, and would provide support only if European authorities deemed it as necessary. (Romanian source)
Petrom signs partnerships for the increase of production
The largest local company, Petrom, signed a 15 years contract with British Petrofac, the group specialized in services for the oil industry, with incomes of USD 3.6 billion, for the increase of production in nine beddings owned by the local oil and gas producer situated in Ticleni area, Gorj county. In the upcoming five years, British should increase the production by at least 50%. Petrofac estimates revenues of USD 270 million in this period. This is the second partnership that Petrom signs with a giant company, as last year it started exploration works in the Black Sea with American ExxonMobil. The increase of the oil and gas production is the company's main strategic line as Petrom announced that the oil processing activity will be decreased as the company's refining capacity fell. (Romanian source)
BCR lent EUR 5.5 million to a waste management company
BCR lent EUR 5.5 million to a waste management and shipment company, Supercom, for a project made in Dambovita county. The credit was granted for the financing of the first integrated waste collection system in Romania, financed with European funds. The amount will be used for the acquisition of equipment. The cost of the entire project stands at EUR 65 million. Three quarters of this cost is covered from European funds, and the rest from a credit facility from the European Investment Bank. (Romanian source)
President Traian Basescu's proposal to tax all pensions has significant support within the Cabinet
President Traian Basescu's proposal to tax all pensions has significant support within the Cabinet. Minister of Labor Mihai Seitan stated on Monday, July 12, that the Government is considering a return to the 19% VAT and a tax on pensions.
The Board of Directors of the Democrat-Liberal Party (PD-L) will decide during its August 15 meeting to give a clearly defined mandate to a team of first vice-presidents who will answer for their activity before the party's central leadership, according to Sulfina Barbu. Barbu added that the central leadership needs to agree on the exact number of vice-presidents before the August 15 meeting. (Romanian source)
